Dynamic spawning of focal point objects within a virtual universe system

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, the density of a plurality of virtual universe avatars within a predetermined proximity from a designated focal point object in a virtual universe is determined. One or more auxiliary focal point objects associated with the designated focal point object are dynamically spawned within the virtual universe based on the determined density of the virtual universe avatars. Dynamic spawning of auxiliary focal point objects can reduce the load on virtual universe host servers and the corresponding client devices, and thus may improve performance of the virtual universe system.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to thefield of virtual universe systems, and, more particularly, to dynamicspawning virtual universe systems.

Virtual universe applications allow people to socialize and interact ina virtual universe. A virtual universe (“VU”) is a computer-basedsimulated environment intended for its residents to traverse, inhabit,and interact through the use of avatars. Many VUs are represented using3-D graphics and landscapes, and are populated by many thousands ofusers, known as “residents.” Other terms for VUs include metaverses and“3D Internet.”

SUMMARY

Various embodiments are disclosed of a method and apparatus fordynamically spawning auxiliary focal point objects within a virtualuniverse. According to one embodiment, the density of a plurality ofavatars within a predetermined proximity from a designated focal pointobject in a virtual universe is determined. The designated focal pointobject is associated with transmissions of information within thevirtual universe. One or more auxiliary focal point objects aredynamically spawned within the virtual universe based on the determineddensity of the avatars. The one or more auxiliary focal point objectsare associated with the designated focal point object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present embodiments may be better understood, and numerous objects,features, and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art byreferencing the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A conceptually depicts an example virtual universe system thattransmits information to avatars based on the proximities of the avatarswith respect to a designated focal point object within the virtualuniverse;

FIG. 1B conceptually depicts an example virtual universe system thattransmits information to avatars having a virtual universe receiverobject based on the proximities of the avatars with respect to adesignated focal point object within the virtual universe;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of example operations for transmittinginformation to avatars based on the proximities of the avatars withrespect to a designated focal point object within the virtual universe;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of example operations for transmittinginformation to avatars having a virtual universe receiver object basedon the proximities of the avatars with respect to a designated focalpoint object within the virtual universe;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of example operations for selecting one or moreof a plurality of broadcasts of information to avatars within thevirtual universe;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of example operations for dynamically spawningauxiliary focal point objects within the virtual universe;

FIGS. 6A-6B conceptually depict an example of dynamic spawning auxiliaryfocal point objects within the virtual universe; and

FIG. 7 depicts an example computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S)

The description that follows includes exemplary systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences and computer program products thatembody techniques of the present inventive subject matter. However, itis understood that the described embodiments may be practiced withoutthese specific details. For instance, examples refer to avatarscomprising virtual universe receiver objects having embedded softwarefor interpreting and processing transmissions of information in avirtual universe, but in other embodiments the avatars may interpret andprocess the transmissions without the virtual universe receiver objects.In other instances, well-known instruction instances, protocols,structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not toobfuscate the description.

In various embodiments, the proximity of an avatar with respect to adesignated focal point object within a virtual universe is determined,and information associated with the designated focal point object isidentified. A first of a plurality of representations of the informationis selected based, at least in part, on the determined proximity of theavatar with respect to the designated focal point object. The firstrepresentation of the information is then transmitted to the avatar.Proximity-based transmission of information disseminates relevantinformation to avatars. Virtual universe businesses can useproximity-based transmission of information to encourage avatars to movenear the designated focal point object within the virtual universe sothat the avatars can be exposed to products and advertisements.Additionally, in some embodiments, multiple broadcasts of informationcan be provided to the avatars via one or more virtual universetransmitters. In these embodiments, avatars can select one or more ofthe available broadcasts and can switch between broadcasts as desired.Furthermore, in some embodiments, the density of a plurality of avatarswithin a predetermined proximity from a designated focal point object inthe virtual universe is determined. One or more auxiliary focal pointobjects associated with the designated focal point object aredynamically spawned within the virtual universe based on the determineddensity of the virtual universe avatars. Dynamic spawning of auxiliaryfocal point objects reduces the load on virtual universe host serversand the corresponding client devices, and thus improves performance ofthe virtual universe system.

FIG. 1A conceptually depicts an example virtual universe system thattransmits information to avatars based on the proximities of the avatarswith respect to a designated focal point object within the virtualuniverse. The system includes a plurality of client computers 101A-N(hereinafter “client computers 101”), a network 110 (e.g. the Internet),a plurality of virtual universe servers 120A-N (hereinafter “virtualuniverse servers 120”), and a virtual universe database 130. A user ofclient computer 101A can access the virtual universe via the network 110to perform activities in the virtual universe environment with an avatar105. The user or “resident” of the virtual universe may be a person,group of people, or organization that controls at least one avatar andmay own virtual land within the virtual universe. The user may use theavatar to traverse various regions within the virtual universe, inhabita region, and interact with the environment and other avatars for socialor business purposes, e.g., chat with other avatars at a virtualuniverse coffee shop or buy virtual clothing at a virtual universeshopping center. A virtual universe region is defined as a virtual area(e.g., land, air, and/or water) within the virtual universe, typicallysupported by one or more virtual universe servers. In the exampleillustrated with FIG. 1A, each virtual universe server 120 may host oneor more regions. Avatars can move within regions by walking, swimming,or flying, and across regions by teleporting from one region to another.It is noted, however, that avatars can move in many different ways(e.g., teleporting within regions, running, gliding, etc.).

A perspective 123 of the virtual universe rendered at the client 101Adepicts the avatar 105 in a shopping area of a city region hosted byvirtual universe server 120A. At a stage A, virtual universe server 120Adetermines the proximities of the avatars with respect to a designatedfocal point object 125 within the virtual universe. For example, virtualuniverse server 120A may detect that avatar 105 is a virtual distance X(e.g., 35 virtual feet) away from the designated focal point object 125,which is within an area R1 (e.g., an area with a radius of 50 virtualfeet). At a stage B, virtual universe server 120A transmits informationto the avatars based on the determined proximities. For instance,virtual universe server 120A may determine the content level and/orcontent type associated with the transmission based on the detectedproximities. In the example shown in FIG. 1A, a transmission of anadvertisement for a virtual clothing sale at one of the virtual universeshopping centers is provided to the avatars. In this example, a greatercontent level with respect to the advertisement is received by avatarswithin area R1, compared to avatars within area R2 and beyond. At astage C, the transmitted advertisement information is presented to theusers controlling avatars, e.g., the user controlling avatar 105 at theclient 101A. For example, the advertisement information may be generatednext to the avatar 105 on the user's display and/or audio may be playedout to the user.

The virtual universe can include a plurality of designated focal pointobjects 125. In various implementations, the focal point objects 125 mayserve as reference points for determining the proximity measurementswith respect to the avatars. The focal point objects 125 may also serveas virtual universe transmitters for transmitting the information to theavatars. In other implementations, the designated focal point objects125 may only be used as reference points for determining the proximitymeasurements. In these implementations, the virtual universe server 120can transmit the information to the avatars by other mechanisms, e.g.,via other virtual universe objects, such as broadcast towers orbuildings.

One or more virtual universe transmitters (e.g., the designated focalpoint object 125 and/or other virtual universe objects) can transmitinformation to all the avatars within the virtual universe. It is noted,however, that in other implementations the virtual universe transmittermay transmit information only to avatars that are located within apredetermined virtual distance from the designated focal point object125. In both cases, the content level and/or content type associatedwith the transmission may be based on the detected proximities of theavatars to a designated focal point object 125.

The information transmitted to the avatars may be one or more of news,music, advertisements, multimedia, video feeds, financial information,and entertainment information, among others. In one specific example,virtual universe businesses (e.g., virtual car dealership) or otherentities may lease the virtual universe transmitter (e.g., certain timeslots) from the virtual universe administrator for transmittingadvertisements, coupons, and product information to avatars.Proximity-based transmission of information can encourage avatars tomove near the designated focal point object 125, which may be placed ator near the virtual universe business. This may lead to increased visitsto the store, product exposure, and business transactions. Also, sinceavatars may receive increasing content level as they move closer to thedesignated focal point object 125, proximity-based transmission ofinformation may encourage avatars to return to the relevant location. Inother examples, coordinators for virtual universe events (e.g., musicconcerts) may lease the virtual universe transmitters to broadcast musicor other multimedia content. It is noted, however, that virtual universebusinesses, groups, or other entities may also have the option to buythe virtual universe transmitters.

FIG. 1B conceptually depicts an example virtual universe system thattransmits information to avatars having a virtual universe receiverobject based on the proximities of the avatars with respect to adesignated focal point object within the virtual universe. At a stage A,virtual universe server 120A determines the proximities of the avatarshaving a virtual universe receiver object to a designated focal pointobject 125 within the virtual universe. In the example shown in FIG. 1B,each of the avatars 105-109 include a virtual universe receiver object.The virtual universe receiver objects can have the appearance of radios,televisions, cell phones, or other communication devices. Furthermore,the virtual universe receiver objects can be sold, leased or provided atno cost to avatars within the virtual universe. For example, the virtualuniverse administrator may offer avatars of the virtual universe anoption to register free of charge (or for a monthly fee) to a servicethat will provide the avatars with proximity-based information. At stageB, virtual universe server 120A transmits information to the avatarshaving a virtual universe receiver object based on the determinedproximities. At a stage C, the transmitted advertisement information ispresented, e.g., to the user controlling avatar 105 at the client 101A.

It is noted that in some implementations, the proximity-basedinformation is transmitted to both avatars having a virtual universereceiver object and avatars that do not have a virtual universe receiverobject. However, in these implementations, only the avatars having avirtual universe receiver object may be able to interpret and processthe transmitted information.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of example operations for transmittinginformation to avatars based on the proximities of the avatars withrespect to a designated focal point object within the virtual universe.At block 205, the proximities of a plurality of avatars with respect toa designated focal point object 125 within the virtual universe aredetermined. For instance, in the example shown in FIG. 1A, virtualuniverse server 120A detects that avatar 105 is X virtual feet (e.g., 35virtual feet), avatar 106 is Y virtual feet (e.g., 90 virtual feet), andavatar 107 is Z virtual feet (e.g., 130 virtual feet), away from thedesignated focal point object 125. It is noted that the virtual universeserver 120A can also detect the proximities of the rest of the avatarsshown in FIG. 1A; however, this description will focus on theproximity-based communications to avatars 105-107.

At block 210, information associated with the designated focal pointobject 125 is determined. For instance, virtual universe server 120Adetermines what information is scheduled to be transmitted to theavatars, e.g., at a current time slot. In the example shown in FIG. 1A,an advertisement for a virtual universe clothing store may be scheduledto run during a current time slot or for the entire day. The owner(s) ofthe virtual universe clothing store may own their own virtual universetransmitter, or may lease one or more time slots of a virtual universetransmitter owned by another entity, e.g., the virtual universeadministrator or the owner(s) of the virtual universe shopping center.

In some implementations, after determining the information associatedwith the designated focal point object 125, a first subset of theinformation can be selected for transmission to certain avatars, and asecond subset of the information can be selected for transmission toother avatars. For example, the information associated with thedesignated focal point object 125 may include an advertisement for avirtual universe clothing store, an advertisement for a virtual universecar dealership, and an audio stream of the current top 40 songs. In thisexample, all three transmissions may be selected for certain avatars,and a subset of the transmissions (e.g., the car dealership ad and theaudio stream, or only the audio stream) may be selected for otheravatars. For each avatar, the selection of the information can be basedon preference data associated with the avatar, e.g., preferenceinformation associated with the profile of the avatar and/or preferenceinformation associated with a membership type.

At block 215, one or more of a plurality of representations of theinformation are selected based, at least in part, on the determinedproximities of the virtual universe avatars with respect to thedesignated focal point object 125. In various implementations, theplurality of representations of the information comprise a hierarchy ofrepresentations of the information, where the hierarchy corresponds to aplurality of proximities with respect to the designated focal pointobject 125. For instance, in some examples, the virtual universe server120A may determine the content level (e.g., amount of content) and/orcontent type (e.g., text, audio, and/or video content) associated withthe transmission of the information based on the detected proximities.It is noted that a representation of the information can comprise aportion of the information available for transmission, or all of theinformation available for transmission. For example, a firstrepresentation of the information can comprise a first portion of adocument, a second representation of the information can comprise asecond portion of the document, and a third representation of theinformation can comprise all of the document. It is further noted that arepresentation of the information can comprise a portion of theinformation or all of the information in one or more formats, e.g., intext, audio, and/or video format.

At block 220, the information is transmitted to the avatars of thevirtual universe. In other words, the one or more selectedrepresentations of the information are transmitted to the correspondingavatars. In the example shown in FIG. 1A, the content level of theadvertisement is determined based on whether the avatars are locatedwithin area R1, area R2, or area R3. As illustrated, in this example,avatar 105 is located within area R1, avatar 106 is located within areaR2, and avatar 107 is located within area R3. Avatars within area R1,e.g., within 50 virtual feet of the designated focal point object 125,receive the full advertisement (“Buy One Shirt, Get Second Shirt 50%off”) including address (“250 Main Street, Suite 200”) and phone number(“914-CLOTHES”). Avatars within area R2, e.g., between 50 to 100 virtualfeet of the designated focal point object 125, receive an abbreviatedadvertisement (“50% Off Shirt Sale”) and the address. Avatars withinarea R3, e.g., between 100 to 150 virtual feet of the designated focalpoint object 125, receive a brief, generic advertisement (“ClothingSale”). In one example, avatars located beyond area R3 do not receivethe advertisement. It is noted, however, in some examples avatars withinarea R3 and beyond, i.e., avatars that are greater than 100 virtual feetfrom the designated focal point object 125, receive the brief, genericadvertisement.

The content type associated with the transmission may also vary based onthe detected proximities. For example, avatar 105 and all the otheravatars within area R1 may receive audio and video content (e.g., videoclip of the products that are on sale), whereas the avatars in areas R2and R3 may only receive text. In other examples, avatars within areas R1and R2 may be offered coupons or other special offers that expire unlessthe avatar responds within a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 10minutes). For instance, a virtual car dealership may offer discounts onselected virtual universe vehicles.

At block 225, the transmitted information is presented to the userscontrolling the avatars. For example, the information may be generatednext an avatar on a user's display or the information may be presentedon a pop-up window. In some cases, the users controlling the avatars maybe given the option to respond to the presented information. Forexample, the user may receive a special offer for a product that expireswithin a predetermined amount of time. In this example, the user may begiven the option to accept or decline the offer, and if the user acceptsthe offer, the user may be prompted to enter some form of identificationinformation.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of example operations for transmittinginformation to avatars having a virtual universe receiver object basedon the proximities of the avatars with respect to a designated focalpoint object within the virtual universe. At block 305, avatars having avirtual universe receiver object are identified within the virtualuniverse. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1B, virtual universeserver 120A determines that avatars 105-109 include a virtual universereceiver object. In various implementations, software may be embedded inthe virtual universe receiver object and/or the corresponding avatar forinterpreting and processing the transmitted information. At block 310,the proximities of the avatars having a virtual universe receiver objectwith respect to a designated focal point object 125 within the virtualuniverse are determined. For example, virtual universe server 120Adetects that avatar 105 is 35 virtual feet, avatar 106 is 90 virtualfeet, avatar 107 is 130 virtual feet, avatar 108 is virtual 75 feet, andavatar 109 is virtual 125 feet, away from the designated focal pointobject 125.

At block 315, information associated with the designated focal pointobject 125 is determined. At block 320, one or more of a plurality ofrepresentations of the information are selected based, at least in part,on the determined proximities of the avatars with respect to thedesignated focal point object 125. For example, the virtual universeserver 120A may determine the content level and/or content typeassociated with the transmission of the information based on thedetected proximities. At block 325, the information is transmitted tothe avatars having a virtual universe receiver object within the virtualuniverse. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1B, avatars 105-109receive the advertisement from the virtual universe business. At block330, the transmitted information is presented to the users controllingthe avatars.

It is noted, however, that in some implementations, the proximity-basedinformation is transmitted to all of the avatars within the virtualuniverse, or to all the avatars located within a predetermined proximityfrom the designated focal point object 125. In these implementations,although the information is transmitted to all the avatars, only avatarshaving a virtual universe receiver object may be able to interpret andprocess the transmitted information (e.g., using embedded softwareassociated with the proximity-based service). It is further noted that,in some instances, the virtual universe administrator may providelimited access (e.g., a “sneak peak” preview or one-day trials) to theproximity-based service to avatars that do not have a virtual universereceiver object to encourage the avatars to obtain receivers, and/or maysend messages to the avatars offering the avatars a virtual universereceiver for a monthly fee or at no cost.

In some examples, the virtual administrator may also offer optionalservices to avatars, for example, music and/or video streaming services.A fee may be required for the optional services. Alternatively, theoptional services may be supported by advertisements, and therefore canbe provided at no cost to the users controlling the avatars as long asthe users subscribe to the service.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of example operations for selecting one or moreof a plurality of broadcasts of information to avatars within a virtualuniverse. At block 405, a plurality of broadcasts of information areprovided to avatars located within a predetermined proximity from adesignated focal point object 125 within the virtual universe. Forinstance, in the example shown in FIG. 1B, the broadcasts may beprovided to avatars within areas R1, R2, and R3 (e.g., avatars within aworking radius of 150 virtual feet from the designated focal pointobject 125). The plurality of broadcasts may be transmitted via a singlevirtual universe transmitter or a plurality of virtual universetransmitters. The content associated with each of the broadcasts may beselected by various techniques, e.g., the proximity-based techniquesdescribed above.

At block 410, for each avatar, at least one of the broadcasts isselected based on preference information associated with the avatar. Insome implementations, avatars may obtain a virtual universe receiverobject to interpret and process the broadcasted information. In theseimplementations, for each avatar that includes a virtual universereceiver object, at least one of the broadcasts is selected based onpreference information received from a user controlling the avatar. Inone example, after providing the broadcasts to an avatar, a preview oran indication of the available broadcasts may be presented to theavatar. In this example, the user controlling the avatar may select oneor more of the broadcasts and send the preference information to thevirtual universe server for selection of the desired broadcasts. Inanother example, at least one of the broadcasts is selected based onpreference information associated with a virtual universe accountassociated with the avatar (e.g., profile, membership type, historicalinformation, etc.). In this example, one or more broadcasts may beautomatically selected after accessing the virtual universe account andreading the preference information. It is noted, however, that in somecases the broadcasts may be selected based on both preferenceinformation submitted by the user and preference information read fromthe virtual universe account associated with the avatar. At block 415,for each avatar, the information associated with the selectedbroadcast(s) is presented to the user controlling the avatar. The usercontrolling the avatar may subsequently switch between differentbroadcasts or select additional broadcasts by providing preferenceinformation to the virtual universe server.

It is further noted that in some implementations, rather than providingthe broadcasts of information to the avatars, a preview or an indicationof the available broadcasts is first provided to the avatars. Inresponse to receiving an indication of the available broadcasts, theuser controlling the avatar may provide preference information to thevirtual universe server for selection of one or more broadcasts. Afterselection, the one or more selected broadcasts can be provided to theavatar. In other implementations, the avatar may initiate communicationswith a virtual universe transmitter, e.g., requesting that the virtualuniverse transmitter provide the avatar all the available broadcasts (ora preview of the broadcasts).

In some implementations, the plurality of broadcasts of information areprovided to the avatars via a plurality of virtual universe channels. Inthese implementations, avatars may obtain a multi-channel virtualuniverse receiver object for selecting one or more virtual universechannels and for switching between channels.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of example operations for dynamically spawningauxiliary focal point objects within a virtual universe. At block 505,the density of avatars within a predetermined proximity from adesignated focal point object in the virtual universe is determined. Forinstance, in the example shown in FIG. 6A, the density of the avatarswithin a predetermined virtual distance r (e.g., 20 virtual feet) fromthe designated focal point object 125 located in region 1 is detected.The density may be defined as the number of avatars in a given virtualuniverse area. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 6A, when requals 20 virtual feet, the density is equal to 24 avatars in a virtualuniverse area of 1256.64 virtual square feet.

At block 510, it is determined whether the density of the avatars isabove a predetermined density threshold level. In one specific example,the predetermined density threshold may be 10 avatars in a virtualuniverse area of 1256.64 virtual square feet. The predetermined densitythreshold level may be determined based on the number of avatars thatwill likely cause an overload condition on the virtual universe hostserver, e.g., due, at least in part, to a large demand for computingresources at the server. The density threshold may be set at a levelthat can prevent overload conditions, which can impact the performanceof the virtual universe and therefore user satisfaction. For example, if12 avatars within a certain virtual universe area will likely cause anoverload condition, the density threshold level may set at 10 avatarswithin that area.

In some implementations, multiple density threshold levels can be set todetermine how many auxiliary focal point objects to dynamically spawn.For instance, one auxiliary focal point object may be dynamicallyspawned for every threshold that is exceeded. In the example shown inFIGS. 6A and 6B, a first density threshold level may be 10 avatarswithin the virtual universe area with radius r, and a second densitythreshold may be 20 avatars within the same virtual universe area. Inthis example, since 24 avatars are within the virtual universe area withradius r, two auxiliary focal point objects will be dynamically spawned.

At block 515, if the detected density of the avatars is above thepredetermined density threshold, the location(s) of the one or moreauxiliary focal point objects within the virtual universe aredetermined. In one example, the locations for the auxiliary focal pointobjects can be determined by a load balancing algorithm, which, forexample, examines the server capabilities (e.g., CPU, memory, bandwidth,etc.) of various virtual universe servers. In another example, anon-the-fly bidding process may be used to determine the locations, e.g.,an island owner receives a signal that a new auxiliary focal point ispredicted to be needed within 5 minutes, and the owner bids $10 to havethe auxiliary focal point on his island. In other examples, historicalinformation of past placements of auxiliary focal point objects may beanalyzed, e.g., search for examples of past placements that that wereeffective in performing virtual universe load balancing. Also, predictedmigration patterns of avatars and avatar population data may be used fordetermining effective locations for the placement of the auxiliary focalpoint objects.

At block 520, the one or more auxiliary focal point objects aredynamically spawned within the virtual universe. For instance, in theexample shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, a first auxiliary focal point object126 is dynamically spawned in region 2 and a second auxiliary focalpoint object 127 is dynamically spawned in region 3. Dynamic spawning ofauxiliary focal point objects reduces the load on the virtual universehost server, and on the client device(s) that is rendering the avatars,and thus improves performance of the virtual universe system. Auxiliaryfocal point objects also extend the transmission range of information,and therefore can bring additional benefits to the owner of thedesignated focal point object and to the businesses and other entitiestransmitting information (e.g., advertisements). In someimplementations, the same or similar information that is transmitted toavatars near the designated focal point object is transmitted to avatarsnear the auxiliary focal point objects. In other implementations,different information is transmitted to avatars near the auxiliary focalpoint objects, e.g., depending on the location of the auxiliary focalpoint objects.

In various embodiments, to reduce the density of avatars around thedesignated focal point object 125, the virtual universe server can sendrequests to a subset of the avatars requesting that the avatars relocate(e.g., teleport) to the area near one of the auxiliary focal pointobjects. In some cases, the requests may be accompanied by offers ofgoods and services to encourage avatars to relocate. In other cases,messages sent to the avatars may require that the avatars relocate orrisk being removed from the region, or the avatars may be automaticallyteleported to another area having one of the auxiliary focal pointobjects. It is noted, however, that in some implementations, relocationrequests may not be sent to avatars, because the mere addition ofauxiliary focal point objects can effectively implement a load balancingfunction as new user-controlled avatars are attracted to a transmissionor the focal point of a transmission. It is further noted, that in otherimplementations, preference data associated with the avatars may be readto determine which avatars to teleport to an area having an auxiliaryfocal point object. In one example, preference data may be obtained fromthe profiles of the avatars, based on the membership type of theavatars, etc.

The dynamic spawning of auxiliary focal point objects may be madepermanent according to various criteria, such as whether the benefitsoutweigh the cost of the maintaining the auxiliary focal point object.In one example, an auxiliary focal point object may be made permanent ifthe owner of the focal point object (e.g., the virtual universeadministrator or a virtual universe business) determines that thelocation is useful in reaching a significant number of avatars and/orattracting sales.

In various other implementations, the dynamic spawning of one or moreauxiliary focal point objects within the virtual universe can be basedon one or more determined loading conditions (e.g., bandwidth, memory,CPU, power, etc.) on the virtual universe host server, in addition tothe detected density of the avatars within a predetermined proximityfrom the designated focal point object. For example, one or moreauxiliary focal point objects may be dynamically spawned within thevirtual universe if the detected density of the virtual universe avatarsis greater than a predetermined density threshold and the determined oneor more loading conditions on the virtual universe host server aregreater than one or more predetermined overload thresholds.

It should be understood that the depicted flow diagrams are examplesmeant to aid in understanding embodiments and should not be used tolimit embodiments or limit scope of the claims. Embodiments may performadditional operations, fewer operations, operations in a differentorder, operations in parallel, and some operations differently. Forinstance, referring to FIGS. 1A-4, in various implementations, for caseswhere the transmission range is limited, owners of the virtual universetransmitters (e.g., designated focal point object 125) can purchase avirtual power booster to increase the virtual range of the virtualuniverse transmitter. For instance, with reference to the examples shownin FIGS. 1A and 1B, the virtual range of the virtual universetransmitter can be increased to reach an additional area R4, e.g., anarea that may be 150 to 200 virtual feet away from the designated focalpoint object 125. In other implementations, owners of virtual universetransmitters can vary the transmission range up to a certain limitwithout the need to purchase virtual power boosters. Furthermore, insome implementations, a first of a plurality of magnitudes for arepresentation of information is determining based, at least in part, ona determined proximity of an avatar with respect to the designated focalpoint object 125. After determining the first magnitude, therepresentation of the information is transmitted to the virtual universeavatar at the determined first magnitude. For instance, in someexamples, the magnitude associated with the representation ofinformation increases as the avatar moves closer to the designated focalpoint object 125, e.g., text is displayed in bold or larger font, thevolume of audio is increased, etc., and the magnitude decreases as theavatar moves away from the designated focal point object 125.

Embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, asoftware embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code,etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that mayall generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or“system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the inventive subject matter maytake the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangiblemedium of expression having computer usable program code embodied in themedium. The described embodiments may be provided as a computer programproduct, or software, that may include a machine-readable medium havingstored thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computersystem (or other electronic device(s)) to perform a process according toembodiments, whether presently described or not, since every conceivablevariation is not enumerated herein. A machine readable medium includesany mechanism for storing (“machine-readable storage medium”)information in a form (e.g., software, processing application) readableby a machine (e.g., a computer). The machine-readable storage medium mayinclude, but is not limited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppydiskette); optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-opticalstorage medium; read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM);erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; orother types of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the embodiments maybe written in any combination of one or more programming languages,including an object oriented programming language such as Java,Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on a user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork, including a local area network (LAN), a personal area network(PAN), or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider).

FIG. 7 depicts an example computer system. A computer system includes aprocessor unit 701 (possibly including multiple processors, multiplecores, multiple nodes, and/or implementing multi-threading, etc.). Thecomputer system includes memory 707. The memory 707 may be system memory(e.g., one or more of cache, SRAM, DRAM, zero capacitor RAM, TwinTransistor RAM, eDRAM, EDO RAM, DDR RAM, EEPROM, NRAM, RRAM, SONOS,PRAM, etc.) or any one or more of the above already described possiblerealizations of machine-readable media. The computer system alsoincludes a bus 703 (e.g., PCI, ISA, PCI-Express, HyperTransport®,InfiniBand®, NuBus, etc.), a network interface 705 (e.g., an ATMinterface, an Ethernet interface, a Frame Relay interface, SONETinterface, wireless interface, etc.), and a storage device(s) 709 (e.g.,optical storage, magnetic storage, etc.). The computer system caninclude a virtual universe proximity-based broadcast unit 721 toimplement embodiments described above. The virtual universeproximity-based broadcast unit 721 includes one or more functionalitiesthat facilitate proximity-based transmissions within the virtualuniverse. The computer system may further include a virtual universedynamic spawning unit 722 to implement embodiments described above. Thevirtual universe dynamic spawning unit 722 includes one or morefunctionalities that facilitate dynamic spawning of auxiliary focalpoint objects within the virtual universe. Any one of thesefunctionalities may be partially (or entirely) implemented in hardwareand/or on the processing unit 701. For example, the functionality may beimplemented with an application specific integrated circuit, in logicimplemented in the processing unit 701, in a co-processor on aperipheral device or card, etc. Further, realizations may include feweror additional components not illustrated in FIG. 7 (e.g., video cards,audio cards, additional network interfaces, peripheral devices, etc.).The processor unit 701, the storage device(s) 709, and the networkinterface 705 are coupled to the bus 703. Although illustrated as beingcoupled to the bus 703, the memory 707 may be coupled to the processorunit 701.

While the embodiments are described with reference to variousimplementations and exploitations, it will be understood that theseembodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the inventive subjectmatter is not limited to them. In general, techniques forproximity-based transmissions and/or dynamic spawning of auxiliary focalpoint objects within the virtual universe environment as describedherein may be implemented with facilities consistent with any hardwaresystem or hardware systems. Many variations, modifications, additions,and improvements are possible.

Plural instances may be provided for components, operations orstructures described herein as a single instance. Finally, boundariesbetween various components, operations and data stores are somewhatarbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context ofspecific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionalityare envisioned and may fall within the scope of the inventive subjectmatter. In general, structures and functionality presented as separatecomponents in the exemplary configurations may be implemented as acombined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionalitypresented as a single component may be implemented as separatecomponents. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of the inventive subject matter.

1. A method comprising: a computer determining a density of virtualuniverse avatars within a predetermined proximity from a designatedfocal point object in a virtual universe, wherein the designated focalpoint object is associated with transmissions of information within thevirtual universe; and the computer dynamically spawning a firstauxiliary focal point object at a first virtual universe location withinthe virtual universe in response to the computer determining that thedensity of the virtual universe avatars within the predeterminedproximity from the designated focal point object is greater than a firstpredetermined density threshold, wherein the first auxiliary focal pointobject is associated with the designated focal point object.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the computer dynamically spawning the firstauxiliary focal point object at the first virtual universe locationwithin the virtual universe comprises the computer dynamically spawningthe first auxiliary focal point object at the virtual universe locationin the virtual universe that is different than a location of thedesignated focal point object in the virtual universe.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the computer dynamically spawning a secondauxiliary focal point object at a second virtual universe locationwithin the virtual universe in response to the computer determining thatthe density of the virtual universe avatars within the predeterminedproximity from the designated focal point object is greater than asecond predetermined density threshold, wherein the second predetermineddensity threshold is greater than the first predetermined densitythreshold.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the computerdetermining the first virtual universe location of the first auxiliaryfocal point object within the virtual universe.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising the computer determining the first virtualuniverse location of the first auxiliary focal point object within thevirtual universe based on at least one of load balancing between virtualuniverse servers, on-the-fly bidding, historical analysis of pastplacement of auxiliary focal point objects, and predicted migrationpatterns of the virtual universe avatars.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising the computer notifying at least a subset of thevirtual universe avatars within a predetermined proximity from thedesignated focal point object of at least one virtual universe locationhaving a dynamically spawned auxiliary focal point object.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising the computer transmitting requests to atleast a subset of the virtual universe avatars within a predeterminedproximity from the designated focal point object requesting that the atleast a subset of the virtual universe avatars relocate to a virtualuniverse location having a dynamically spawned auxiliary focal pointobject.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the computerreading preference data associated with profiles of the virtual universeavatars within a predetermined proximity from the designated focal pointobject; and the computer teleporting a subset of the virtual universeavatars to a virtual universe location having a dynamically spawnedauxiliary focal point object based on the preference data associatedwith profiles of the virtual universe avatars.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: the computer transmitting information to a firstplurality of virtual universe avatars located within the predeterminedproximity from the designated focal point object of the virtualuniverse; and the computer transmitting the information to a secondplurality of virtual universe avatars located within a predeterminedproximity from a dynamically spawned auxiliary focal point objectassociated with the designated focal point object.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the information comprises at least one of news, music,an advertisement, multimedia, a video feed, financial information, andentertainment information.
 11. A method comprising: a computerdetermining a number of virtual universe avatars within a predeterminedproximity from a designated focal point object in a virtual universe,wherein the designated focal point object is associated withtransmissions of information within the virtual universe; the computerdetermining one or more loading conditions on a virtual universe hostserver supporting the designated focal point object in the virtualuniverse; and the computer dynamically spawning one or more auxiliaryfocal point objects within the virtual universe in response to thecomputer determining that the number of virtual universe avatars withinthe predetermined proximity from the designated focal point object isgreater than a predetermined threshold and the determined one or moreloading conditions on the virtual universe host server are greater thana predetermined overload threshold.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe computer dynamically spawning one or more auxiliary focal pointobjects within the virtual universe comprises the computer dynamicallyspawning one or more auxiliary focal point objects at different virtualuniverse locations than the designated focal point object.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising the computer determining alocation of each of the one or more auxiliary focal point objects withinthe virtual universe based on at least one of load balancing betweenvirtual universe servers, on-the-fly bidding, historical analysis ofpast placement of auxiliary focal point objects, and predicted migrationpatterns of virtual universe avatars.
 14. The method of claim 11,further comprising: the computer transmitting information to a firstplurality of virtual universe avatars located within the predeterminedproximity from the designated focal point object of the virtualuniverse; and the computer transmitting the information to a secondplurality of virtual universe avatars located within a predeterminedproximity from a dynamically spawned auxiliary focal point objectassociated with the designated focal point object.
 15. A computerprogram product for implementing dynamic spawning of one or more objectsin a virtual universe, the computer program product comprising: one ormore computer-readable tangible storage devices; program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to determinea density of virtual universe avatars within a predetermined proximityfrom a designated focal point object in a virtual universe, wherein thedesignated focal point object is associated with transmissions ofinformation within the virtual universe; and program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, todynamically spawn a first auxiliary focal point object at a firstvirtual universe location within the virtual universe in response todetermining that the density of the virtual universe avatars within thepredetermined proximity from the designated focal point object isgreater than a first predetermined density threshold, wherein the firstauxiliary focal point object is associated with the designated focalpoint object.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15, furthercomprising program instructions, stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices, to determine the first virtual universe locationof the first auxiliary focal point object within the virtual universe.17. A computer system for implementing dynamic spawning of one or moreobjects in a virtual universe, the computer system comprising: one ormore processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or morecomputer-readable tangible storage devices; program instructions, storedon at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by atleast one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one ormore memories, to determine a density of virtual universe avatars withina predetermined proximity from a designated focal point object in avirtual universe, wherein the designated focal point object isassociated with transmissions of information within the virtualuniverse; and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more memories, to dynamicallyspawn a first auxiliary focal point object at a first virtual universelocation within the virtual universe in response to determining that thedensity of the virtual universe avatars within the predeterminedproximity from the designated focal point object is greater than a firstpredetermined density threshold, wherein the first auxiliary focal pointobject is associated with the designated focal point object.
 18. Thecomputer system of claim 17, further comprising: program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for executionby at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of theone or more memories, to determine the first virtual universe locationof the first auxiliary focal point object within the virtual universe.